Projector for surface projectiles



July 28, 1936. I. BAYER 2,048,915

PROJECTOR FOR SURFACE PROJECTILES Filed Feb. 16, 1934 4 .Fy-i. ,3

INVENTOR Patented July 28, E36

2,048,915 I raomcroa roa seamen raomcms Ignatz Bayer, :Detroit, Mlcln: John Bayer ad-e ministrator 'of said Ignatz Bayer, deceased Application February 16, 1934,8erla1 No. 711,527

3 Claims. (CL 273-429) My invention relates to games of the kind in which a number of movable members or pins are set up in a certain manner upon the surface of show or other substantially horizontal support and are then knocked down by a ball or other projectile discharged from a gun or'pistol.

One object of my said invention is to provide improved means for discharging the projectile and directing the same so as to knock down the pins 19 as aforesaid.

Another object of my said invention is to pro- ,vide means whereby the projectile is automatically returned to the player after having accom-- plished its work.

Another object of my said invention is to provide means whereby the pins, after being knocked down, may be easily and quickly set up again in readiness for another game, without the necessity of touching them with the hands.

"A further object of my said invention is to provide .a game of the character referred to in which the working parts are simple in construction and easy to manufacture, and in which the apparatus as a whole is so mounted as to be rotatable about a fixed support so that it may be placed in the center of a table, whereby it may be easily and quickly moved into a position convenient forany one of a number of persons seated therearound.

With these and other objects in view, the in- Figure 1 is a plan view of the complete apparatus. a Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is an under-side view of the same.

Figure-4 is a transverse section on line 4-4 of I Figure 1. Y a

V Figure 5 isa longitudinal-section of one form of pistol to be employedfor discharging the projectile.

Figure 6 is a section on line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure 'l is a fragmentary-view corresponding to Figure '5 but showing the parts in diflerent positions, and

Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of a modified form of pistol.

vLike characters designate corresponding parts Y throughout the several views.

i. is the main floor upon which the game is to be played and'2 are the pins as set up in the playing position. 3 are a pair of longitudinal track-way 'I which extends forward to the front end of the floor and beneath the same in such manner that a ball which is projected beyond the 1 pins 2 will roll down the track-way 5.. passing through the opening 6, and then roll down the inclined track-way I to the front end where it may be recovered manually through an opening 8 in the floor i and then placed in proper position 15 for being used over again. The main floor i is also inclined downwards from the rear end to the front end and is provided with a pair of angularly disposed guides 9 which are so arranged that a projectile which 20 does not reach the transverse track-way 5 will roll downwards-to the front end and take up a position adjacent the hammer member. iii of the'pistol Ii, as indicated in full lines in Figure 1. 28

The pistol i i consists essentially ofa main frame or casing 12 in two halves stamped from sheet metal and secured together by rivets IS, the pistol as a whole being swivelly mounted upon the pin l4 which passes down through a hole inthe floor 30 I and is secured in position by a nut i5. there being a metal re-enforcing plate It upon the under-side of the floor whereby the rigidity of the structure is insured.

In orderto set up the pins after they have been 36 knocked down, there are provided upon the undersideof the floor I a series of cords or'flexible members ll, corresponding to the number of pins employed. One end of each of the said cords passes upwards through a suitable opening and is 40 connected to the base of its respective pin, while the other end is connected to a transverse memper-i8, and to this member is connected a rod 19 supported in guides 20 and terminating in a ring 2i. Surrounding the rod i9 is a helical compression spring 22, one end of which presses against the member 18 while the other end reacts against the adjacent guide 20, the arrangement being such that by pulling upon the ring 2 i the rod it, together with the transverse member I8, is pulled forwards so as to tighten the flexible members II, which are normally in a loose condition so as not to interfere with the .over- 1 turning of the pins}. and by so tightening the 5 said flexible members the pins are brought into a vertical position, as will be understood.

The apparatus as a whole is so mounted as to swivel in a horizontal plane around the pivot 23 which presses through the transverse member 24, attached to the side walls 3, and is secured to the upper surface of a base 25 adapted to rest upon a table or other support.

The pistol II will now be described with particular reference. to Figures 5, 6, and 7 of the drawing. Us the hammer member, of rubber or other resilient material, adapted to slide within the tubular barrel 26 formed integral with the casing l2. is connected, by means of the pin 21, a plunger 28 of rectangular cross section slidably supported near its rear end in the fixed guide 29 andter-- minating in a latch 30. Surrounding the plunger 28 isthe helical compression spring 3|, one end of which bears upon the inner surface of the hammer l0 while the other end re-acts against; the fixed guide 29. Forward of the latch 30 is a notch 32 in which engages the upper end of a lever 33 pivoted at 34. Pivoted to the frame at 35 is a trigger -36 provided with an extension 31 which projects through a slot in the frame and is adapted to bear against a flange 38 integral with the lever 33, the arrangement being such that when the parts are in theposition shown in Figure 5 and the trigger 36 is pulled rearwardly, the end of theextension 1 travels over the surface of the flange 38 and, by a cam-like action, pushes the lever 33 rearwardly until it occupies the position shown in Figure 7, at which point the upper end of the said lever becomes disengaged from the notch 32 and allows the plunger 28 to be impelled forward at great speed under the action of the spring 3|, which has in the meantime been compressed. The trigger 36 being then released, the lever 33 is returned to the original position, as shown in Figure 5, by the spring 39 which is supported upon the pivot 34, one end of the said spring bearing against the flange 38 while the other end re-acts against the rear portion of the frame l2. In order to facilitate the re-entrance of the end of the lever 33 into the notch 32, the spring 39 is bent laterally in such a manner as to normally urge the said end towards the latch, while at the same time the said lever is loosely mounted upon the supporting pivot. By this arrangement the end of the lever 33 canslide upwards along theinclined surface of the latch and will then fall into the notch, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. In order to fur- Figure 6, tends to maintain the plunger as a whole in a central position, as shown. The rear end of the barrel 26 is closed by means of a cap 4|.

It will be observed that a pistol of the construction above described must be arranged to overhang the'edge of the floor I in order that it may swing freely in a horizontal direction, but

in the modification shown in Figure 8 the pistol is so arranged that no part of it projects below the supporting floor surface. This is accomplished by providing an upwardly-turned arcuate handle 42 in place of the handle previously shown,

To the inner end of the member I0 This necessitates a re-arrangement of the parts as follows:

The lever 33, pivoted at 34, is provided with a rearward extension 43 upon which is an up-standing flange 44, and the trigger 36, instead of being formed as above described, is provided with a cam member 45 which, when the trigger is moved rearwardly in the direction oi the arrow 46, acts upon the flange 44- so as to move the extension 43 forwards and re-tract the plunger 28 in the same manner as above described, the construction of the latch and associated elements being also similar. In this modification, however, there is provided, above the barrel 26, a magazine 41 adapted to contain a plurality of projectiles 48 which are fed in through the opening 49 and which will escape one 'by one into the forward end of the barrel 26 through the opening 50 when the said opening is uncovered by retraction of the plunger 28 in the position shown in broken lines in the in drawing. In this manner anumber of projectiles may be fired one after another in quick succession.

It will be noted that, in order to obtain a sufficient length of the spring 3| without requiring a barrel of inordinate length, the lower portion of the hammer member I0 is cut away at llll, leaving merely a curved upper portion I02 which is necessary to provide a proper closure for the opening 50 and prevent the projectiles from getting behind the hammer when the same is in the extreme forward position.

While I have herein described and shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the same may be modified in various ways to meet any particular or peculiar requirement, without departing from the spirit of my invention. For example,in some cases the apparatus, instead of being of open construction as herein shown and described, may be enclosed by means of a glass or other transparent cover, and access to the pistol or to the projectiles may be obtained through any well known form ofpre-payrnent mechanism.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: z

1. A ,pistol comprising a barrel; a spring-impelled member slidably mounted within said 50 barrel; a handle upon said barrel bent upwardly and downwardly in arcuate form and terminating substantially in alinement with the lower surface of said barrel, and trigger means within-said handle adapted to retract said member against the action of the spring and to release the sam to discharge a projectile. 2. A pistol comprising a barrel; a spring-impelled member slidably mounted within said barrel; a handle upon said barrel bent upwardly and downwardly in arcuate form and terminating substantially in alinement with the. lower surface of said barrel, and trigger means within said handle adapted to retract said member against the action ofits spring and to release the same to discharge a projectile, said means including a fiat rod connected to said member having a lateral notch proximate to its free end' and having its end beveled; a lever pivoted within said handle to the rear of said barreland adapted to slide over said beveled end and to engage said notch, and having a rearwardly extending, arcuate extension thereupon; a spring acting upon said lever to normally urge the same into engagement with said notch; a cam member pivoted within said handle and arranged in co-operative relation with said extension; and a lever upon said cam member projecting into the bight of said handle whereby said lever may be manually operated to move said rod rearwardly against the action of its spring andthen to release the same.

3. A pistol comprising a barrel; a spring-impelled member slidably mounted within said barrel; trigger means adapted to retract said member against the action of its spring and to release the same to discharge a projectile; a magazine above said barrel and parallel thereto for containing a plurality of projectiles; an aperture connecting said barrel and said magazine; and a valve member extending rearwardly upon said member and adapted to control said aperture, whereby a, single projectile is discharged into said barrel upon each retraction of said member.

IGNATZ BAYER. 

